how to round cables the right way....

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
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91
how exactly are you supposed to round cables? all i do is slit he middle of the cables and then use my fingers to pry the plastic apart in a straight line...it always seems to work fine, but i was wondering if there is a better way
 

Lord Evermore

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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That's pretty much it. Though most people split them in groups of like 5 wires (or 10 with an 80 wire cable but I've found it too difficult to do 80 wire cables) and then stack them, so you get a narrow cable. Either tape the whole thing up or just tape it at a few points which allows it to remain flexible.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,374
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i just fold the things over a couple of times, then they're rigid enough that when you bend them some way they stay. don't even really need to cable tie or electrical tape them.

i do wonder about crosstalk with the data wires being near each other.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
is that a concern at all? crosstalk that is...

i cut them all up and they all work perfectly, but i never thought about that, should i have put shielding or something inbetween each of the strips?
 

Lord Evermore

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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Use HDTach or Sandra to test your drive performance. If it comes out okay, crosstalk probably isn't an issue. I think the grounding wires still do their job, since you're not separating each wire and removing the grounds, they're still near all the other wires and providing the signal protection.
 

Lord Evermore

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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Lamers buy stuff. Geeks make it themselves. :)

A few bucks is a few bucks, if you can ghetto-ize it yourself, why pay for it?
 

HouRman

Senior member
Mar 30, 2000
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Fry's sells rounded shielded ide cables in a variety of colors. Even the connectors are colored..

I must say they look better than anything a geek would ever make. They also have a system tote and fan ducts. hehe
 

CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
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<< Fry's sells rounded shielded ide cables in a variety of colors. Even the connectors are colored.. >>



see this remark:



<< Lamers buy stuff. Geeks make it themselves. :)

A few bucks is a few bucks, if you can ghetto-ize it yourself, why pay for it?
>>



:D ;)
 

Lord Evermore

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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I'm not all that concerned with my cables being colored and smoothly rounded. People that want the insides of their computers to look like an iMac are a different category than people that just want their system working and then close it up.
 

CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
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my case is a lunch tray.. everything sits on top. and I have a big think of ugly, filty noise insulation over the top :D
 

jh0sken612

Member
Feb 7, 2002
136
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You can get rounded IDE cables that are guarunteed to work and look pretty for like 10$
Better IMO.

Especially if you have a window / case mod that shows them off :p
 

moocat

Platinum Member
Oct 25, 1999
2,187
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Could someone please clear up this question about 80 conductor ribbon cable. Are the wire pairs a true/complement scheme or just data/ground?